My good buddy Cajunate was looking out for me Friday when he ran across a post on Broil King's Facebook Page looking for a Keg owner in Atlanta to try out a device for cooking pizzas on the Keg. Being the pal that he is, he tagged me in the post and it led to me getting in touch with the inventor of the Pizza Porta. I was able to go meet him and his wife, both very nice folks, at one of Atlanta's 3 Restaurant Depot stores. We talked a bit about this crazy obsession we all have, he gave me a quick tutorial on how to use it and off I went. When I got home yesterday evening, I made a batch of dough in order to prepare for today's guinea pig session.

Cortlandt (the inventor) has made varying versions of this device but has only used it on BGE and KJ Kamados, hence the reason to see if it would also work on the Keg. Luckily for me, that's where I came in. I have 3 versions of the Keg but for this test, chose to use my BSK2000 since it is somewhat covered. It was windy and was acting like it might rain so it was the right choice even though all 3 are basically the same.

First challenge was to see if the Keg's hinge assembly would work with the Pizza Porta, if this was a no go, then I'd have to cook pizzas on the UUNI 2S, or just keg them without the Pizza Porta. I was a little nervous oddly enough, I REALLY wanted this contraption to fit. Not so much as for my own benefit but rather I didn't want to give Cortlandt any bad news. He's a super nice guy and I really want him to be able to expand his product's reach. I love success stories! He and his wife are genuine folks so I can't help but root for them

So, walk with me while I take you through this afternoon's testing session. I will warn you, there are a LOT of pictures and even a video. I am nothing if not thorough, lol.

Ok, here we go. First things first. Did it fit? If so, how well? I was pleased to see that the Keg's hinge was compatible. The top gasket fits perfectly but I will say that there are some small gaps on the bottom portion. I feel that a changeable felt gasket on the Pizza Porta would help things nicely, on Kegs and other Kamados. With that said, maybe it's not such a big deal.

Placed on Keg before lighting the lump. Various angles to show fitment.

Time to make some pizzas! First one up is double pepperoni. On the last picture of it in the box, you can see that the top is nice and browned. I achieved this by taking the pizza and rasing it up into the hot dome for browning just before removing the pizza from the Keg. This is called "Doming" according to the instructions Courtlandt gave me. Works great!

The next pizza is a Pepper Stout Beef pizza. We LOVE these!

As you can see, the Keg and the stone stay hot since the dome is never raised!

Time for a BBQ Chicken & Bacon Pizza

More Glamour shots of this one since it was the last one I did, I had the time to go a little crazy with the picture taking

So......what do I think of it? Overall I like it. Mainly due to being an admitted gadget freak. I like that the Keg stays closed, eliminating losing heat while adding pizzas or rotating them. This is a clever idea. Here's the realist side of things, hey you didn't think I was going to only give you the good without the bad did you? It's geared for those that are going to cook more than one pizza. If you're just doing one pizza on your keg then this is more of a novelty than something that is practical. If doing one pie, you're not going to benefit from having this, even though it IS a cool contraption. If you do, however, cook more than one pizza at a time then this may be something you want to add to your arsenal! It IS fun to use!

I enjoyed trying this out for the inventor and I seriously hope all of you on here and in Kegland in general consider supporting this guy. The Pizza Porta is American made right here in Jawja, in the A-T-L no less, so you're getting a well built unit. You can learn more about it HERE

If you have any further questions for me about the Pizza Porta, post them here!

Nicely done! I like the looks of that thing! Of course if you're going to use the Keg you'd probably do more than one homemade pizza so I can see this being a tremendous addition as far as extras go. I bet it can be used for doing other cooks like whole chickens, steaks, roasts. I especially like that it's going to be about the right height for baking pizza and the door seems more efficient that lifting the lid. I like it!

Nicely done! I like the looks of that thing! Of course if you're going to use the Keg you'd probably do more than one homemade pizza so I can see this being a tremendous addition as far as extras go. I bet it can be used for doing other cooks like whole chickens, steaks, roasts. I especially like that it's going to be about the right height for baking pizza and the door seems more efficient that lifting the lid. I like it!

It's a cool gadget! Now, it's got me wondering if that dang KJ Rotisserie thing will work on the keg!!

Nice job RG on that review. It's a nice toy I just don't see the advantage of this vs our pizza set ups. If i'm not mistaken the joetisseri will not fit on the Keg. Now if they can hurry up and release the Big Joetisseri id be a happy camper!

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Nice job RG on that review. It's a nice toy I just don't see the advantage of this vs our pizza set ups. If i'm not mistaken the joetisseri will not fit on the Keg. Now if they can hurry up and release the Big Joetisseri id be a happy camper!

Like I said above, if you're doing just one pizza then it is just a gadget to have for the sake of having it. It still gives you the browning capabilities of being able to use the dome heat though. If doing multiple pies is where it shines and is nice to have. It does brown better than cooking without it, whether 1 pizza or 10. That's one of the reasons I went to the UUNI 2S over the keg to begin with. So it does have its merits but mostly for multiple pie cooks! I could see Pizza Parties running a lot smoother with using the Pizza Porta.

Thanks for at least reading the whole review, I know it was a marathon to get through it, lol. I tend to overdo things I suppose

Glad I got you hooked up w/Cortlandt as it looks like things went well. Did he say he was going to be doing any tweaks to this for a "keg version"?

Don't know yet Daniel. I've sent him the link to this topic and he's read it. He said he has a million questions so I told him I'd call him tomorrow. I didn't know that "Daniel" was you, lol. Small world! How in the world did you wind up getting involved with a guy in Atlanta making a Kamado Pizza Gadget? Talk about Six Degrees of Separation

Well I saw this awhile back and noticed no traction for the keg version. I'm persistent and like you said Cortlandt is a nice guy. He just needed a guinea pig to test it out and get this kick started for the keg.

Would love to know how this progresses as I'm guessing he may make some tweaks before it's ready for keg prime time.

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Daniel

BBQ is all the same basic idea. Throw some meat onto the fire, cover, get drunk, pass out, wake up and 14 hours later, eat. This is not a highly refined art form.

my brother is going to test it next. looking forward to what he says. Nice job RG.

Curious to see his take. Tell him to join this forum (if he already hasn't) so he can post his take here. Cortlandt is going to link to this thread on his site I do believe. It can serve as a Pizza Porta "catch all" of sorts.

Like I said above, if you're doing just one pizza then it is just a gadget to have for the sake of having it. It still gives you the browning capabilities of being able to use the dome heat though. If doing multiple pies is where it shines and is nice to have. It does brown better than cooking without it, whether 1 pizza or 10. That's one of the reasons I went to the UUNI 2S over the keg to begin with. So it does have its merits but mostly for multiple pie cooks! I could see Pizza Parties running a lot smoother with using the Pizza Porta.

Thanks for at least reading the whole review, I know it was a marathon to get through it, lol. I tend to overdo things I suppose

No it was good! i didn't find it long at all. Its good info! I like lots of pics. Thanks again for reviewing that!

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Here's to alcohol: The source of, and answer to, all of life's problems. --Homer Simpson

I'd say that it needs to incorporate some kind of steel tray (stone) where the pizza sits on. You would want the steel to provide some sort of on\off ramp.

Like RG said it's great if you are going to feed a large party pizzas.

In addition to being geared to make a lot of pizzas quickly, you also can easily lift the lid and add flour on "the ramp". I think this would be a key selling point and the concept should be driven home in a video.

I could also see a variation:Instead of a door, add a sliding tray, you could have a rosticeire setup with two sets of motors. You can probably have four chickens, quickly open the drawer and baste four birds at a time, slid it back in.